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Milcah, daughter of Haran
}} * Niece of Patriarch Abraham * Daughter of Haran * Wife of Nahor * Grandmother of Rebecca and Laban Biography Milcah (Hebrew: מלכה, Milkah; "queen") was the daughter of Haran, sister of Lot and Sarah, and wife of Nahor. Milcah was a woman of ancient Mesopotamia and an ancestor of the patriarch Jacob. Milcah was born to Haran, who had another daughter, Iscah. The Jewish Encyclopedia states that this is the Haran who died in Ur, the brother of Abraham, and father of Lot; but notes Ibn Ezra's commentary on Gen. 11:29 which indicates that Haran, Milcah's father, was a different person from Haran, Abraham's brother.1 Milcah married Abraham's brother Nahor. (Gen. 11:29.) In the Babylonian Talmud, Rabbi Isaac presumes that the two men with the name Haran are one person. If that is true, then Milcah married to her uncle. Although Leviticus would later outlaw marriages between aunt and nephew (Lev. 18:14, 20:19), it did not rule out marriage between uncle and niece. (See, e.g., Gunther Plaut, The Torah: a Modern Commentary, 881. New York: UAHC, 1981.) The Talmud approved of a man who married his sister’s daughter. (Yevamot 62b-63a.) And in the Talmud, Rabbi Isaac equates Milcah’s sister Iscah with Sarah (then Sarai), who married Abraham (then Abram), who was also their uncle. (Sanhedrin 69b.) Thus, according to Rabbi Isaac, the two sisters, Milcah and Iscah, married the two brothers, Nahor and Abraham. Milcah and Nahor had eight children, Uz, Buz, Kemuel, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. (Gen. 22:21.) Targum Jonathan says that Providence granted Milcah conception in the merit of her sister Sarah. (Targum Jonathan to Gen. 22:20.) Nahor also had four children by his concubine, Reumah. (Gen. 22:24.) Milcah’s son Bethuel moved to Padan-aram and fathered Rebekah. (Gen. 22:23, Gen. 24:15, Gen. 24:15-47) Milcah’s granddaughter Rebekah then married Milcah’s nephew Isaac (Gen. 24:67;, Gen. 25:20;), and gave birth to Jacob (Gen. 25:21–26), who became Israel. (Gen. 32:28;, Gen. 35:10). There is a Midrash that Milcah was the forbearer of all prophets in the non-Jewish world. (Yalkut Shimoni Balak, 23.) Genesis 11 Narrative 27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. 29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. Genesis 11:27-29 Children She married Nahor sometime before the departure of Abraham for Canaan. (Genesis 11:29 ) They had eight sons: Uz, Buz, Kemuel, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. (Genesis 22:20-23 ) Her son Bethuel later had two famous children, Rebekah and Laban, each of whom were prominent ancestors of the house of Israel. References * Book of Genesis 11-25 * 1 Chronicles 1:21-25 * Abraham - LDS Bible Dictionary * Abraham - Wikipedia *Abraham - Family tree on JewAge (another Semantic MediaWiki site) Category:Biblical figures Category:Genesis Table of Nations Category:Semetic Tribes Category:Upgraded from info page Category:Lineage Adam to Jesus